Panic is My Middle Name
by aikakone
Summary: Mason and Brett get trapped in a box in the ground and have to wait for Scott and Liam to rescue them. Brett is pretty good at calming Mason down, but Mason still can't figure out if the werewolf likes him or not.


The overhead door slammed shut.

"I think we're trapped," Mason said, looking around the subterranean box in the quickly fading light. He liked adventures, but he didn't like his life on the line. He was rather attached to it and wanted to keep it a little longer if he could.

"Don't panic," Brett, his partner in crime stated. "You'll use up too much oxygen if you do."

"Don't panic? Don't panic!" Mason said, clearly panicking.

"Sit down," Brett told him. "Scott or Liam will find us. We'll be okay."

Mason sat down beside Brett who was muttering a mantra. Then he heard the light whisper of words. The sun, the moon and the truth. Brett always resorted to his Zen meditation in times of stress, and Mason was feeling most stressed.

"Are you sure they'll find us?" he asked the werewolf.

"No. Can we ever be sure of anything?" Brett said in that detached way that sometimes infuriated Mason.

He was glad they had become friends with each other and that Bret and Liam were no longer fighting like rabid dogs. Still, sometimes Mason wanted to freak out, and this was a good time to freak out.

In the dark, Brett grabbed his wrist. "Liam is on his way. I think you could hear him, too, but you have to calm down and listen. Breathe slowly so you're not hearing the sound of all the extra oxygen you're using."

"But how will he find us? If we're locked in, won't our scent and sound be blocked, too?" Mason asked his voice rising as he thought of all the possible bad outcomes. Brett's fingers at his wrist felt like a lifeline keeping him away from complete desperation.

"I don't know, Mason. I don't know, but…" Brett said.

"But what?" he asked.

"We've already been through a few things together. We won't be defeated by a box in the ground," Brett said, rubbing lightly at Mason's pulse.

Mason sighed and dropped his head, not that Brett could see him in the dark. Then he put his other hand toward him until he brushed Brett's already busy hands. "This one, too."

Taking the other wrist, Brett passed his thumbs over both pulse points. "Did your other hand get lonely?"

"I like how it feels," Mason admitted.

"You like a lot of things I do," Brett said so confidently Mason could easily imagine the smile that went with it.

Brett had seen the way Mason had looked at him when he thought Brett wouldn't notice. Except he had noticed because Brett had been looking back at Mason.

Of course, Mason hadn't realized the budding feeling, whatever it was, was reciprocated yet. Mason was hopeful, but he was also trying to protect his heart.

"Like what?" Mason asked foolishly, interrupting Brett's internal musing, daring him to say it out loud.

Mason knew enough about werewolves now that Brett could detect his racing heartbeat or any lies he might try to hide. Brett could probably feel the heat from his skin, especially since his hands were on his wrists.

"You like how I dance. You like how I play lacrosse," Brett listed casually. "You like how I kiss."

That startled a laugh from Mason. "How would I know about that? You've never kissed me."

"We should do something about that," Brett said.

Brett wanted to add some funny comment to take off the pressure, but this time he chose not to. He did remove his hands from Mason's wrists and let the silence build in the darkness. Let Mason think about some kisses instead of being locked in a box.

"If you did kiss me," Mason said into the darkness, "what would you do?"

"Do you want me to give you a play by play like it's lacrosse?" Brett asked. He couldn't hide the sound of amusement that time.

"You could make it as choreographed as a porno for all I care," Mason said bravely.

"Nope," Brett said contemplatively. "If I do that, then you know Liam will find us immediately, and we'll never hear the end of it. If I'm going to kiss you, I'm going to make it worth doing, not just something that's going to be interrupted."

"Thanks, I think," Mason said.

"No problem," Brett replied, reaching out to pat Mason on the shoulder.

He sat quietly fuming for a while. For all Brett's distracting talk about kissing, and Mason realized he was trying to distract him, he didn't know if Brett actually liked him. This was nerve wracking almost as much as it was to sit in this box. Mason licked his lips as he thought of a response, but Brett's fingers tightened on his shoulders before he could speak.

"Glad I didn't kiss you. They've finally found us," the werewolf said.

"Yeah, that's just great," Mason said in a flat tone that was parts relief at being found parts annoyance about getting kiss blocked by his crush.

Within minutes, Scott and Liam had the lid open and were helping both Mason and Brett out of the ground. Mason was dusting the debris off his clothes as he walked, and Brett leaned over to help swipe some leaves off Mason's butt. At Mason's questioning look, Brett gave him a wide-eyed innocent look in return.

"Come on," Liam said impatiently. "We've got to get Mason home before his parents freak out."

"Sure," Brett said. Then he asked, "Do you have my backpack?"

"It's in the car," Liam said.

"Good," Brett said. "Let's go."

* * *

On the drive back to the Hewitt house, Brett was furiously searching through his pack for something and not finding it. His frustration levels seemed strange to Mason who had just seen him as calm in a tomb in the ground.

"What are you looking for?" Mason asked him.

"It's… something. I mean it's nothing, but…" Brett said evasively while still looking.

Too soon the four of them arrived at Mason's house, and Mrs. Hewitt was waiting at the door for them to drop off her precious son. She was a stern woman, but stunning. There was no doubt that Mason got his good looks from her.

Mason quickly got out of the car to go face the maternal music, and Liam watched to make sure he got to the door safely. They went inside with only one backwards glance and wave from Mason.

As Scott put the car in gear to pull away, Brett let out a victorious cheer and asked him to stop.

"Give me just a sec. I need to give this to Mason," he said, while disentangling his long limbs from the back seat of the car.

Running up to the door, Brett knocked to see Mrs. Hewitt's unimpressed face when she reopened it. "I'm sorry, but I have something to give to Mason. It won't take a moment, I promise. Please let me come in."

She stared at the tall boy, putting the fear in him before letting him pass. Thanking her as he quickly bound the stairs, Brett found Mason's room and knocked on his door.

"Mom! I told you I was going to take a shower," Mason said at the sound of the knock.

"It's Brett," he said. "I have something to give you."

The floor creaked as Mason walked near the door and turned the knob. He looked up at Brett, but he didn't even ask what he'd brought.

The werewolf held out a softly glowing crystal on a leather strap. "If we ever get stuck in the dark again, you can use this to see if you want to."

"Thanks," Mason said, his nose wrinkling with his surprise.

"Liam and Scott are waiting, but…" Brett said before putting the crystal around Mason's neck.

He was going to thank him. Mason had opened his mouth to let words spill out of them. But instead, Brett leaned forward and put his mouth on Mason's, giving him a quick soft kiss. It wasn't full of the passionate promise of immediate sex, but it definitely had a lot of interest and hope for more behind it.

Stepping back, with a satisfied smile on his face, Brett assessed Mason. "Yeah, that really does look good on you. I'd better go."

Before Mason could ask a thing, the other boy was already on his way downstairs and out to get in the car with the two other werewolves. Mason stared at the crystal for a few seconds and then closed his bedroom door.


End file.
